The Rajkot tragedy is, unfortunately, not rare. Earlier this year, 12 students (and two teachers) died in a boating accident while out on an excursion in Vadodara, Gujarat. Two years ago, in Morbi, Gujarat, 135 persons died when a newly opened bridge, which had become the hot entertainment spot in the town, collapsed. A probe pointed to administrative lapses and mismanagement. In 2017, 14 persons died in a fire at a rooftop pub in Kamala Mills Complex, Mumbai, which did not have emergency exits and whose fire safety equipment did not work. In 2009, 45 tourists drowned at the Thekkady lake in Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary when their boat, which was operating without life jackets and lifeguards, sank. The worst of such tragedies at entertainment spots has to be the 1997 Uphaar theatre tragedy in Delhi when 59 persons perished in a fire.

These tragedies could have been prevented, or many casualties avoided, if the facilities had complied with safety norms. There is no shortage of regulations in India but officials often see them as avenues for rent-seeking and ignore their intent. Scores die or are maimed in avoidable accidents – including in fires and stampedes at shrines and fairs – annually. There is rarely any closure in any of these. The idea is not to ensure some sort of retributive justice, but it has to be hardwired into the system that no person/utility/facility shall be allowed to be lax about public safety. It is time we end this criminal negligence of the safety of citizens.